(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, printer, facsimile machine or the like, in particular, relating to an image forming apparatus having a function for allowing the user to check the status of images and edit images, by displaying images output based on the input image data in a preview representation.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The recent copiers have been commoditized into products having various duplication processing functions as one way of presenting the advantages of digital copiers.
For instance, as a known example of a digital copier, there is an image forming apparatus that includes an input means having a function of receiving additional input of image data; and an output means for performing image output based on the image data input through the input means, and has a function of permitting the user to edit image data by displaying the images to be output from the output means in a preview representation. According to the image forming apparatus of this kind, it is possible to easily edit images to be output before execution of a job.
Under such circumstances, as the control panel in the image forming apparatus of this kind, a touch panel display has been often used in recent years. A touch panel display is formed of a liquid crystal panel (display panel) and a touch panel laminated on the liquid crystal panel.
Usually, on the touch panel display, a multiple number of items (software buttons) for selection of operational mode in the image forming apparatus are displayed. The user presses the position of the desired item among the items displayed on the touch panel display. The user feels as if the user presses the software button. The information on the position at which the user pressed is transferred from the touch panel to the computer that controls the image forming apparatus, whereby the operation to be made is determined in accordance with the pressed position, by the program running on the computer.
The touch panel display is able to provide both a display function and a control function. That is, the touch panel display has the advantage of a smaller area for installation, ability of giving various displays and providing various functions, compared to a configuration including a display and a controller separately.
Further, the recent touch panel displays have been realized with a function of recognizing the trace of movement of the fingers touching on the surface of the touch panel display. With this function, the user is able to command an appropriate operation that sensuously coincides with the movement. Controlling an electronic appliance by this kind of operation will be called “gesture control” in this specification. Examples of the gesture control are as follows.
When a preview of images captured by a scanning function is being displayed on the touch panel display, the following control operations are permitted.
(1) In the touch panel display, the position where the image as a target of control is tapped twice by the fingertip. This control is called “double tapping”. When an image is double tapped, the display of the image may be enlarged or reduced, or the operation may be switched into the mode for editing the image.(2) Two fingertips are spread apart on the image as a target of control (in the condition that the fingertips are put on the image). This control is called “pinch out” or “pinch open”. When a pinching out or pinching open operation is made on the image, the image may be enlarged in accordance with the movement of the fingers.(3) Two fingertips are brought together on the image as a target of control (in the condition that the fingertips are put on the image). This control is called “pinch in” or “pinch close”. When a pinching in or pinching close operation is made on the image, the image may be reduced in size in accordance with the movement of the fingers.
Other than the above, examples of gesture control include “tap” an operation of hitting the position of the image as a target of control with the fingertip, “drag”, an operation of sliding the image being displayed with the fingertip, “flick”, an operation of sweeping the image being displayed lightly with the fingertip, and “pinch”, an operation of pinching the image being displayed with two finger tips, and the like.
Here, tapping and double tapping are not the one that detects the trace of user's action on the touch panel display, so that they cannot be said to be a gesture in the strict sense of the word. However, all the above operations on the image inclusive of tapping and double tapping will be called gesture control.
In this specification, the operations on the touch panel display other than the gesture control described above will be called “touch control”.
The touch control does not mean a direct operation on the image but indicates an operation for realizing a function as an alternative means of a hardware key. Typically, the touch control indicates an operation of detecting a user's request based on the displayed position of a software button (usually, a user interface part) displayed on the touch panel display and the operated position on the touch panel display by the user.
In a multi-functional machine having a touch panel display of this kind as a control panel, it is possible to designate the settings for various image finishing processes through the control panel. Examples of finishing processes include settings for various image processes such as margin sizes etc., stamping, stapling, hole-punching and the like.
However, in the conventional multi-functional machine, there occurred cases where a finishing process causes failure in the actual printing. For example, when printing is performed with hole-punching specified as a finishing process, the positions of the punch holes may overlap the output image, resulting in defective duplication. As a result, supplies (toner and recording paper) are wasted.
To deal with, a technology of an image forming apparatus in which preview display of images can be given on the basic screen in copy mode, has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
According to this image forming apparatus, the screen of the control display is divided into three regions. In the regions on both sides of the control display, software buttons to designate the conditions for image forming and the finishing conditions are laid out. In the center, preview images of documents are laid out.
There are multiple kinds of display modes for displaying preview images in this image forming apparatus.
The first display mode shows a predetermined number of images (e.g., five images) arranged horizontally. In this case, the image arranged in the center of the control display is displayed greater in size than the other images.
The second display mode is a method of displaying two images on the odd-numbered page and even-numbered page, among the captured multiple document images, in a spread. When there are a large number of pages of images displayed on the control display, multiple two-page spreads are stacked one over another like a booklet.
The third display mode is a method of displaying multiple document images arranged matrix-wise. When the document images cannot be accommodated within the screen, all the document images can be checked by scrolling the screen.
As above, according to the technology described in Patent Document 1, efficient use of preview display enables the user to confirm the finished state of documents and reduce erroneous settings for finishing processes, mistake in copying operation and other failures.